Christmas Weekend Runs

Picture stolen from Clay's blog.

I had another week of no runs leading up to a long weekend. Here is how it went down. Dale and Clay had organized a group long run for Friday morning. We all met at 60th and the aqueduct, headed west for 5.2 miles then turned around. After a warm up mile we were consistently hitting mile splits of 8:00 to 8:10. At the 10 mile mark a group of us Dale, Jeff, and I were met by Zac Patten and picked up the pace for the next 8 miles. Jeff turned around early, Zac wasn't feeling well, and Dale was finishing a 70+ mile week and I think he was feeling it a little. He was having a tougher time maintaining his MP by mile 15. He is a work-horse though and pulled out a great workout and a great week.

My last 8 miles were 7:27, 7:42, 7:23, 7:32, 7:24, 7:15, 6:47, 6:25!

18 miles in just about 2:20 (avg pace 7:48).

Both my IT Bands were whispering to me and my right calf felt a little tight the entire run. It was a tough 18 miler. I guess that is what I get for only running weekend long runs and nothing during the week. Oh well.

Saturday was Christmas. We had gorgeous weather. There was no running involved but we had a GREAT Christmas with the kids! They were so excited and have been playing with their new toys non-stop since Christmas morning. This year running related gifts I received included: A Twin Cities Marathon shirt, some cold weather running pants, and a DVD documentary titled Running America.

Sunday we all slept in. It was cold and windy (I guess breezy by AV standards). I waited until the boys took a nap and then headed out for a run around Quartz Hill. I ended up running 10 miles in 75 minutes (7:30 pace). During the second half of the run I mapped out a few loops on a dirt road/trail that I found between housing tracts off of "the hill" on 65th. Each loop is just about a half mile and would be great for intervals. I am looking forward to using these loops next year. The are almost exactly two miles from my house. They have some hills but nothing too steep so you could still run fast but vary the grades and avoid the roads or the track!


Dan asked me the other day about tunes for the ipod while running. Here is what I am into at the moment:
"Animal" - Neon Trees
"Lisztomania" - Phoenix
"1901" - Phoenix
"Cousins" - Vampire Weekend
"Dog Days are Over" - Florence and the Machine
"I bet that you look good on the dance floor" - Arctic Monkeys
"Kings and Queens" - 30 Seconds to Mars
"This is War" - 30 Seconds to Mars
"Waiting for the End" - Linkin Park
"If its love" - Train
"Radioactive" - Kings of Leon
"Use Somebody" - Kings of Leon
"The Fixer" - Pearl Jam
"Seven Army Nation" - The White Stripes
"Icky Thump" - The White Stripes
"Take Me Out" - Franz Ferdinand
"I want you to" - Weezer
There are quite a few songs by Muse that I have my eye on!

Dan, hope this helps. I tend to like songs with a fairly fast beat for my running playlist and I always run faster than I planned when I am wearing my ipod shuffle.

Two steps forward, one step back

I felt pretty good this morning. My nasal congestion was better. I was able to start running at a good pace without any calf tightness. My calf felt good so after two miles I decided to pick up the pace. I did my Quartz Hill zig zag hill workout and was ok on the hills. I decided to try and keep my pace even on the rest of the workout. I was running strong uphill at 7:30 pace and easy downhill at 7:30 pace. It is nearly a 7 mile course so I had to add an extra bit at the end to make it 7 even (I finished in 52:30 avg 7:30 pace). As I was running up the last 30 ft hill to my house my right calf tightened up again. Luckily this time I was home and just stopped running. So I immediately went to the back yard, made and ice bath and soaked for 10 minutes before showering and heading off to work. I have been using "the stick" off and on for self massage today and will do an ice massage after posting here. It was definitely a set back. It is sore and tight this afternoon, but not as bad as two weeks ago.


In the US Racing news Leo Manzano ran a PR in the mile this weekend running 3:50.64 putting him 9th on the all time US list. Why is that significant you ask? Well, that time bumped Jim Ryun off the all time US top 10 mile list! Jim's 3:51.1 in 1967 was a World Record at the time. Interestingly, he didn't run that time in Europe, he ran it in Bakersfield, CA just a little over an hour north of here. Now the World Record for the mile is 3:43.13 by Hicham El Guerrouj in 1999. Records are made to be broken, but Jim will always be one of the best, most exciting, and a trail blazer for US track and field.

7 mile morning run

I didn't run yesterday, I was too tired. I got in an easy 7 this morning through Quartz Hill including 3x 1/2 mile hills. It was not pretty and I was having some left heel pain again. I don't know if I will get in a track workout this week, we have a pretty busy schedule.

Andi finished the Strawberry Fields Olympic Triathlon yesterday in 3:06:23. She finished well after a tough ocean swim that left her "completely exhausted." Her splits were 49:36 (1500m ocean swim), 3:38 (T1), 1:19:51 (40k bike), 2:16 (T2), 51:00 (10k run). The "T" is a transition time between events. She was 311th out of 372, and 19th out of 27 for females 30-34.

Here's a video from Coach Jay Johnson on circuit training for runners. Good stuff!

Circuit Workouts for Running Times - Rationale from CoachJayJohnson on Vimeo.

8 mile moring run

Stayed up late last night, slept in a little, left the houe at 7:00 instead of 6:00, still got 8 miles, no long run this weekend, finished in 1:03 on a hilly route, legs were tired by the end.

Here are some pictures from yesterday. See Clay's blog for more!

Quartz Hill intervals

I met Clay and Zac at 6:15 am at 65th West and L-8 for a hill workout. Clay was on the bike suppying water during each rest break. Zac was obviously tired. I had run 3 miles of warm up by the time we started. The workout was 4x 1/2 mile hill repeats, with the second one being the most difficult. The first was on 65th from L-8 to M. I lead and finished in 3:05. The second was still on 65th from M to M-8. Zac was running right behind me until half way when he stopped suddenly and ran for the side of the road. I thought for sure he was loosing his breakfast, turns out he found a road reflector that had come loose and he picked it up for a friend's collection. He still almost caught me by the end. I was first to finish the second 1/2 mile hill in 3:19. Clay says the grade on this section of 65th reaches 8% at the end and is around 6% in the beginning. The last two 1.2 mile loops are in a neighborhood just south of M-8 and 65th where Zac has done repeats before. The first half of the loop is tough then levels out at the top and finishes downhill. I was spent after the first two and Zac was about 10 seconds ahead of me. I finished in 3:10 and 3:05. He was under 3:00 for both. I ran a cool down home (2 miles) for a total of 7 miles today. It was a tough workout but I felt really good about it. I think my achilles will be a little sore tomorrow. We did not time our rest breaks but started on perceived readiness. There is an interesting article on runnersworld.com on perceived readiness during interval training that is worth a read.


FYI: Sergio Reyes is running the 10,000m at USA championships on Thursday at 6:20 pacific time. The meet is in Iowa. It will be broadcast live on flotrack.org. Check it out.

Past LA Marathons

For the log I got in 8 miles today adding some long hills around Quartz Hill including 65th from M to M-8 twice. I finished in 62 minutes. I felt great considering my long run on Sunday.


I have run the LA marathon twice (2004 and 2005). The Los Angeles Marathon was my very first Marathon in 2004. It was a warm day much like it will be this year. I faded towards the end but exceeded my expectations and ran a 3:15. A Boston qualifier didn't seem so far away after that first marathon. I remember meeting my family after the race and saying, "I want to do that again."

I did do it again the next year with Andi. She had already run three marathons and had just broken 4 hours barely. She had run 2-3 half marathons under 1:40 and I told her that she could run under the 3:40 Boston qualifier time if she ran one with me. We ran the 20th Los Angeles marathon together in 2005. We went out a little too fast (I think we were on 3:30 pace at the half) and faded towards the end but pulled off a 3:38! It was another hot day down there. Andi was 18th in her age group that year (F25-29) and 93rd female. I was very proud of her. We both qualified for Boston that year as I went on to run 2:58 that June at Grandma's Marathon.

Pasadena Half Marathon

No, I didn't run the Pasadena Half Marathon this morning, but my wife Andi and her siblings (Louise and Clark) did with their dad Don for his 60th birthday! They snuck the race in between rain storms and had what Andi called perfect weather. It was overcast and cool, from the pictures it looked great. They kept a very even pace going through the 10k in 60:44 (9:47 pace) and even picked it up a little to finish all together in 2:07:10 (9:42 pace). I only hope that I can still run a half marathon when I am 60, but even more so, I hope that my boys are able to run one with me. I thought it was such a great idea for all Don's kids to run it with him. He has been building up his mileage over the past 4 months for this race. Congratulations Don and Happy Birthday! He was even in the top 10 in his age group! When's the next one Don?



It started pouring ran up here just before Andi got home and I told her that I wanted to get in a run so I got the treadmill all ready to go. Just as I started running the rain stopped, I jumped off the treadmill, went out to the living room and said, "never mind I'm running outside!" I got in a good 10 miler which included two times up 65th from M to M-8 and then up 70th to the aqueduct and back home. I pushed the pace a little on the aqueduct running around 6:50-7:10 pace and felt good about the effort involved considering my long run yesterday. I finished the 10 miles in 79 minutes (just under 8:00 pace).

31 miles for the weekend.

I have been reading some blogs and articles on training for an ultra-marathon and most of them suggest the back-to-back long run plan. One article suggested that even the elite ultra runners don't do too many runs longer than 30 miles but they would do 25 one day and 20 the next. If I can get in 30+ mile weekends for the next month I think I will be in good shape.

9 mile Thursday!

I used to have nine mile Thursday every week when I was training for Boston in 2008. I usually did some form of progression run ending at threshold pace for a mile or two. Today I zig zagged my way through Quartz Hill area between 50th W. and 70th W. and got as far north as L-8 running hard up all the hills and finished the 9 miles in exactly 72 minutes (8:00 pace avg). It was a little breezy in the morning and it was gusty by the afternoon. Is this the start of the spring winds? I'm not looking forward to that. That's all I have for ya today. Hope everyone is having a good week!

6 mile run in Quartz Hill

I got up this morning for a run before work. You could feel the weather coming. The forecast calls for rain the next two days. I ran 6 miles and each got progressively faster. I think it took me around 46 minutes for the run and after two miles of warm up I pushed it for a mile up 65th, then had a half mile downhill before another push up 60th, and headed home. My legs have felt good this week and I am hoping this leads to a good two months of training ahead.

If you like documentaries on runners or running coaches I have seen a few good ones lately. Running the Sahara was a great documentary that I received for Christmas, I highly recommend it. I also saw most of Run For Your Life, the life story of Fred Lebow (the director of the New York City Marathon. If you have netflix you can stream it on your computer. There is also a documentary titled The Long Green Line about York HS Coach Joe Newton. Coach Newton has written books on coaching high school runners and his team has won 25 state titles in Illinios in 50 years. You can watch the whole movie for free on hulu.com here.

7 mile run in Quartz Hill

I got out for 7 miles this afternoon and continued my hill training emphasis. I went up M-8 to 70th then down to L-8, up 65th for a mile of climbing and then up 60th for another half mile. Total mileage was 7.3 miles in 55:15 (avg 7:35 pace). Got into a groove for the last few miles and felt really good about it.

Last Friday Bernard Lagat won his record 8th Wanamaker Mile (indoor track) at the Millrose Games in NY. Here is the video of the race. It is truly beauty in motion. He is racing the Olympic champion and they both make 15 mph look effortless, then Lagat shows everyone that he has a whole other gear!

12 mile long run (1:31:07)

Clay was right on with his post today. It was a glorious day to run. Andi got out for a run in the morning and I left at around 1 pm to go while the boys were napping. I had planned on at least an hour but as I ran that ETA got longer and longer. In planning for the LD50 I have decided to try and make as many runs on hilly routes has possible. Today my goal was to go long and hit as many hills in Quartz Hill as possible. The temperatures at 1 pm were just warm enough to go with shorts and a short-sleeved shirt. I set my Ipod shuffle and started out UP N to the top. After that I went UP M to the end and got on some of the dirt roads that looped back around to L-8. I turned back toward home at L and 72nd and zig-zagged UP 70th, UP 65th, and UP 60th. I realized I would be just over 10 miles if I ran back home so I decided to run down 55th an extra mile and turn around to finish UP 55th. 1700ft of total ascent over the 10 miles. I finished the 12 miles in 1:31:07 (avg pace 7:35), although my pace was anywhere but steady due to all the hills. Here are my mile splits: 7:46, 8:10, 7:27, 7:34, 7:17, 7:21, 7:52, 7:53, 7:36, 7:10, 7:23, 7:30.

Due to the tightness and soreness in my right foot, I decided to break out a new pair of New Balance 1224s for the run today. I have yet another new pair still waiting in the wings (I found them online at the end of last year for 40 bucks a pair; reg 130). I felt tightness and occasional sharp pains in the plantar fascia of both feet during the run, but most of the run felt great. I finished the workout with an ice bath again. The best thing about the winter...the water comes out of my hose at just the right temperature for an ice bath, no ice cubes needed.

The weather today started off crisp, clear, and sunny. It ended like this (from my front door)!

WOW!
(no photoshopping necessary)

7 mile slow run 58:00

I haven't felt great all week. Very tired in the morning, a tight left hamstring, and some upper back pain. I have started back to my lunch workout routine and had good workouts on Monday and Wednesday for 20 minutes each. I usually feel better after doing those workouts. They involve band walking, reverse lunges, kettlebell swings, pushups, planks, mountain climbers, side planks, and different variations on all these exercises.

This morning I ran my Quartz Hill hill run which included 3 half mile hills in the second half of the run. My left hamstring gave up on the second one and I took it really easy. I finished the 7 miles in 58 minutes. I hope this hamstring loosens up before the AVC track meet on January 30th or I will not be ready to run on the track.


The Zoom! Yah! Yah! Marathon in Northfield, MN is this Sunday. A marathon in MN in January? Well, they run it at the 282 meter indoor track in the athletic facilities at St. Olaf College (my dad's alma mater). It's only 150 laps, anyone interested? The course record is 2:52:31. Don't ask me how they keep track of laps.

"Nothing hurts more, but is so rewarding at the same time."
--Runner Sandy Zanchi on the Marathon

8 mile Quartz Hill run in the rain

I was able to get out for an uncommon afternoon run today. I left the house at about 2 pm and headed out for my half mile hills run. I added on another half mile hill today for a total of four. The course is from my house down to L-8 and 70, then zig zag up and down back home. I go up each hill for a half mile then turn left and go down to the next hill. I run up 70th, 65th, 60th and today 55th each for a half mile. It started to rain steady while I was on 70th. So each hill was in the rain and into the wind. It was a tough run and again I pushed the pace a little hard but I am feeling more comfortable at these faster speeds.

Splits were: 7:17, 6:53, 7:05, 7:17, 7:18, 7:18, 7:15, 6:48.

Total 8 miles in 57:13 (avg pace 7:09)

I think I typically run better when I don't have to jump out of bed and hit the road right away.


Singer/songwriter Alanis Morissette ran the Bizz Johnson Marathon this weekend in 4:17. Not bad. I checked out the race web page and it looks like a beautiful course in near Susanville, CA (north of Reno, NV). The times were amazingly fast with a third of the finishers under four hours. I couldn't figure it out until I saw the elevation profile here.

If you ran a marathon this weekend, this study found that you are six times more likely to get sick in the three days following the race as a result of immune system dysfunction.

6 mile Quartz Hill hill run

I varied my usual hill run slightly today. I didn't go up to 70th only to 65th but still hit the steep section of 65th between M and M-8. I averaged just under 8:00 pace over the run, pushing the pace a little on the hills. My limiting factor today was my L calf but my knee felt better and I had no issues with my hamstring. I have cut my training mileage by about 25-30% and will cut my long run by 30-40% this weekend and build up in the next two weeks towards Twin Cities as long as I continue to improve.

Anyone interested in running the 25th LA Marathon "Stadium to the Sea"? You can register already, for $125! No early entry discount for this one. YIKES! It looks to be a good time. They even have their own la marathon blog. Check out the promo commercial.


Dean Karnazes is promoting the race as well. Here is a recent video interview with him.


Here is Dean describing to a group how to run 200 miles.


From Karl's day calander: 70-number of minutes it took Jesse Owens to break three world records, and tie a fourth, at a college track meet in 1935.

Coach and trainer, Vern Gambetta commented on a post from Jay Johnson on General vs. Specific strength training for runners. Also an interesting read. All good stuff!

8 mile Labored Day hill run (60 min)

I decided to do my 3 x half mile hill workout today but didn't go as fast as I would have liked due to a tight left calf. The 8 miles too me 60 minutes on the dot (7:30 pace). This left leg has been giving me trouble since I twisted it during a move. It has been flared up the last two weeks. I may have a torn meniscus, my knee pops a few times a day, and I can tell when it is going to because to "grinds" and "blocks" my last 10-20 degrees of full extension. It just feels a little unstable. If I am smart about it I think I can manage it through these next two marathons. If I can get it feeling as good as it did on that 10k time trial, then I still have a shot at 2:55 in Sacramento. The running doesn't seem to bother the knee but my calf and hamstring sure compensate. It is all the other stress I put on it during the day that seems to aggravate it. Like I said it felt better after Saturday's 18 miler than it has in a while. A day at the beach and some work in the garage today and it is pretty sore. I will take tomorrow off and next weekend is a recovery weekend for me as I will be watching the boys while Andi runs the Big Bear Half Marathon.

Congrats to Chuck Fieland on a 1:31:20 half marathon at Disneyland. He is right on track to run 3:10 at CIM. Just take it easy on those other fall marathons Chuck.

The US 20k Championships was this weekend and local elite runner Sergio Reyes was running a week after PRing at the half marathon distance. It was a very competitive field compared to last year and Sergio placed 15th with a time of 1:01:47, bettering his time from last year where he placed 16th and ran 1:02:52. Not bad for racing 2 weekends in a row. In 2007 he was 8th place in 1:01:46. See video from the race here. You can see him finish at 14:53 into the video. He will be running the Chicago Marathon in 5 weeks.

The men's race was won by Brett Gotcher of McMillan Elite in 58:57! The fastest winning time since 2005 (Abdi).

The women's race was won by 45 year old Colleen DeReuck who will be running the Twin Cities Marathon with Andi and me (ok not WITH us but in the same race as us) in four weeks.

See flotrack for interviews. Still no Sergio interview.

8 mile Quartz Hill long hills run

It took me about 3 miles to loosen up this morning after my 2 hour run yesterday, but after that I felt really good. I did my 3 x half mile hill run in Quartz Hill. The loop is about 7 miles but I tacked on another one for cool down and made it 8 in 1:02:40 (avg 7:50 pace). I am feeling stronger up the hills. 22 miles for the weekend. Last time I did this workout, July 25th, I did it in 1:02:10 (pretty close and I was more fresh last time).

Next Saturday, August 15th, is our next FREE running clinic at Valley Physical Therapy Group. This time the topic is on interval training! The show starts at 11:00 am and will run for about an hour. Come down and check it out. You might learn something. The title is "Get Fit, Get Fast, Loose Weight (Maximal Metabolic Disruption)."

This is post number 250 by the way!

If this video doesn't inspire you then you may be hopeless.

New blog picture and 8 mile run (60:30)

I ran 8 miles this morning and pushed the pace a little until I started running up 60th into a head wind. That took everything out of me but I finished the 8 miles in 60:30 (avg pace 7:34).

There was a huge track meet in Monaco yesterday and some great US performances. One story proved just how much of our sport is mental. Maggie Vessey, a Cal Poly SLO grad, was 4th at the US Championships in the 800 and did not have the A standard to make the US team for Worlds in Berlin. She had been running in Europe trying to get the sub 2:00 A standard and make the team. Well last night she not only broke 2:00 but ran the fastest time in the world for 800m this year! Watch the race here and see her post race interview. She describes how she almost talked herself out of running well yesterday, and how you can achieve your goals if you surround yourself with other positive and talented people who will help you bring out your best.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

"[It] is 90% mental -- the other half is physical" -- Yogi Berra

Weekend Update!

I have had about two weeks of detraining and am ready for a two month build up for Twin Cities. This week I only ran 12 miles during the work week.

Tuesday: I ran a total of 4 miles from my house, around Joe Walker, and back. I went without a watch but felt like it was about 7:45 pace.

Friday: I ran 8 miles around Quartz Hill on my hill workout loop. The goal: push 3xhalf mile hills in the middle of the run (up 70th, up 65th, and up 60th). The toughest climb is up 65th between M and M-8. It is a really good workout, and the rest of the run is at an easy pace (1 min slower than marathon pace). I completed the 8 miles in 1:02:10 for an average pace of 7:46.

Saturday: Andi and I met Clay, Zac, and Dale on Ave. S and the aqueduct at 5:45 am(a stretch of aqueduct that I was not familiar with). It was a 2.5 mile stretch that we ran out and back on twice. The goal of the workout was a fast finish. We all ran together for the first 5 miles in 42:25 (avg 8:29 pace), then picked it up on the back 5. I decided to run the last five with this progression (2 at marathon pace, 1 about 15 seconds faster, and the last two with whatever I had left). The last five mile splits were 7:15, 7:05, 6:28, 6:15, 6:04. My second half was 33:07 (avg pace 6:37). I was running slightly over AT Pace and could feel the lactate building in my legs after about a mile at that faster pace. It was probably a little too fast (see Sunday's workout). See Clay's blog for the group photo. Total time was 1:15:34 for 10 miles (avg pace 7:35). Andi averaged 7:30-7:40 pace on the way back for a total time of just over 1:20!

Sunday: Andi and I met Clay and Dale at 60th and the aqueduct at 5:30 am for an 8 mile recovery run. This is the most weekend mileage (18 miles) that Andi has done in over 3 years. She we just got back and she is already asleep on the couch. We averaged 8:40 pace and even I was sluggish today from the previous 2 days of workouts.

Special thanks to Jon and Louise Fitch who have stayed with the boys while Andi and I have run together 2 days in a row now! We are both ready for a day off tomorrow.

Next weekend Clay and I are going to a Perform Better Seminar called Funcitonal Training Summit in Long Beach, CA. Stay tuned to see how creative we can be in also getting our workouts in.

8 miler in Quartz Hill (62:50)

I got out later than I had hoped this morning. I left at 6:30am. It is starting to heat up around here. I only had time for an hour so I did an 8 mile loop that included 3 x .5 mile hills that I pushed a little harder. It is a fun loop when you push up for .5 miles then cruise down for .5 miles, then repeat. It was getting hot and I did not carry fluid with me this time.

If you are out this summer running for more than 45 minutes I would recommend taking something other than water with you (gatorade, accelerade, etc). It will help replenish the electrolytes lost in your sweat and give you some carbs for added energy. Water alone will not cut it for exercise >45 min. Please take at least water on every run >80 degrees outside. If you are just taking water, a salt tablet before the run will help quite a bit. Anything to avoid hyponatremia.


I finished a two day course today on kinesiotaping. It was a great course and although I was using the tape before I now feel I have a much better understanding of different applications. I learned some great techniques for shin spints, different types of knee pains, IT Band friction syndrome, and many others.

Here is a video of Susan Kuijken NCAA 1500m champion from Florida State University after a semifinal race. She is wearing kinesiotape on her left knee. A good idea, except that from what I learned this weekend, the tape is on upside down. It is facilitating her quad in open chain not in closed chain as I suspect her trainer intended. Watch video here, taping shown at exactly 2 minutes.

USA track and field championships ended today. Michelle Perry, a Quartz Hill graduate and former World Champion, made the final but did not run. I am not sure what happended if she was injured or false started in the final or something else. Hey there "Delilah DiCrescenzo" made the final of the women's steeplechase but finished 9th. Jordan Hasay won the junior women's 1500m in 4:18!

7 mile Quartz Hill loop (52:18)

I woke up this morning to the sound of chirping birds! To me that means NO WIND! I have mapped out a tough 10k course that includes a half mile hill up 65th and a mile steady hill up 60th. I felt good from the start and decided to push the hills a little and cruise the downhills. When I looked at my watch I was averaging about 7:20 pace up the hills. The loop is almost exactly 6 miles and would be a good 10k time trial or tempo run. I finished with an extra mile for a total of 7 in 52:18 or 7:30 avg pace. It was a great morning run.

Some of you may know of Dick Beardsley from the Duel in the Sun with Alberto Salazar at the 1982 Boston Marathon. He is also the Grandma's Marathon course record holder. He also ran a 2:47:56 at the age of 50! He had a total knee replacement in January of this year, not because of arthritis from running (running doesn't cause arthritis, heredity does) but he twisted his knee at the beach and required arthroscopic surgery (his 12th on that knee) but it got infected and the damage required total knee replacement. The amazing part of the story is that 6 months later he is running 40-45 miles per week! Read the article here.

Check out Dick Beardsley's Blog here.
He talks about his recovery from surgery, pretty interesting stuff.


The RunnersWorld Daily blog has been pretty funny this week.
Highlights include this story about beer.
And this one about underwear.


The Twin Cities Marathon that my wife and are running October 4th has officially reached its 11,000 entrant capacity with 3 months to go!

Finally, Thirsty Thursdays with Jack Daniels are back!